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Actually it is normal. It's a hum from the charger not being grounded. The effect also happens on the MacBooks. You will feel some electrical charge when touching the MacBook. Apple no longer includes the extension cable that grounds the charger. Sadly it's an additional $19 but that's what gets rid of the buzzing and hum.

Not normal on my 16" or my partners 2017 without the extension. Being in the UK could have something to do with it as I think it has ground (three prong)... Dunno, not a sparky.
 
I have no issues with my MBP 16 aside from all the Catalina bugs

But to issue number one... can you provide details.... all chargers whether it’s a 12w iPad charger to the 96w charger have some sort of noise

If you put your ear to any power brick while its charging... you will hear electricity
 
I have no issues with my MBP 16 aside from all the Catalina bugs

But to issue number one... can you provide details.... all chargers whether it’s a 12w iPad charger to the 96w charger have some sort of noise

If you put your ear to any power brick while its charging... you will hear electricity

If it were a situation where I can only hear the buzzing if I literally put my ear on the thing I wouldn't care, but in reality I can hear it from 0,5-1m away from the charger in a quiet room, sometimes the buzzing is quieter and I won't hear a thing, other times I can clearly hear the buzzing. Never heard this buzzing from my old MBA 2012 charger plugged into the same socket, but it wasn't a 96W charger.
 
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I had the buzzing thing on an older MBP. Changing to the three pronged grounded plug fixed it. Unfortunately Apple no longer includes this with MBPs.
Exactly. Floating grounds dues to wiring or other issues usually cause buzzing sounds. And giving the system a hard ground connection cures the problem.
 
Exactly. Floating grounds dues to wiring or other issues usually cause buzzing sounds. And giving the system a hard ground connection cures the problem.

Great diagnosis, so can you please explain why my MBA 2012 charger does not produce any buzzing while using the same socket as the MBP16 96W charger? Both are 2 pins.
 
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If it were a situation where I can only hear the buzzing if I literally put my ear on the thing I wouldn't care, but in reality I can hear it from 0,5-1m away from the charger in a quiet room, sometimes the buzzing is quieter and I won't hear a thing, other times I can clearly hear the buzzing. Never heard this buzzing from my old MBA 2012 charger plugged into the same socket, but it wasn't a 96W charger.

Try your grounded cable from your old MBA and see if the buzzing disappears. Your charger for you MBA draw considerable less current and is likely an older design that may be more tolerant of poor AC power regulation. New electronics tend to be less tolerant,

Alternatively send it back. If you reorder you may get a system that works better with your electrical supply.

But if that does not work consider having the electrical looked at. Under/over-voltage, being off frequency, and floating grounds are not usually dangerous but in extreme case can result in shocks.
 
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If it were a situation where I can only hear the buzzing if I literally put my ear on the thing I wouldn't care, but in reality I can hear it from 0,5-1m away from the charger in a quiet room, sometimes the buzzing is quieter and I won't hear a thing, other times I can clearly hear the buzzing. Never heard this buzzing from my old MBA 2012 charger plugged into the same socket, but it wasn't a 96W charger.


Posted some things to try.
 
Great diagnosis, so can you please explain why my MBA 2012 charger does not produce any buzzing while using the same socket as the MBP16 96W charger? Both are 2 pins.

If you want to keep the 16” try a grounded cable and see if your problem is resolved. Otherwise return it if it doesn’t meet your expectations.

What difference does it make at this point why your air doesn’t have this problem? It doesn’t help you with the problem at hand.
 
Do you NOT experience any of the issues reported? Not even the sound popping that is quite common?

To test for sound popping you can go into the desktop, click somewhere to change the focus from any other software and keep pressing "Command + Q" at different pace (once per second, then multiple times per second).
I havent experienced those problems.
 
Oh Wow--news flash you are gonna hate life thinking like that, with anything you buy...omg have fun!

If some people have low expectations for an overpriced piece of hardware from a trillion dollar company that's their problem. I expect "Apple quality", but it seems nowadays it's just a myth.
 
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For the charger: just ask for a new one. I know you "shouldn't" have to deal with that in such an expensive machine but even with top tier QC, small issues like this one will always happen every once in a while. It's not about "giving apple a pass" it's about being realistic with your expectations, no company will deliver perfect products even if they obviously "should". If you're interested I can list you all the QC issues I've had over the years in the premium laptop business because if you think your charger issue is unacceptable you're in for a ride. You're calling Apple's quality a myth because of a damn charger, you really need to calm down and think about what you're saying.

For the screen: did you own a 2016+ Macbook Pro before? If you didn't, I have bad news for you: it does seem that most people complaining about ghosting are coming from earlier MBPs with better response times, but all the 2016+ have ghosting to some extent. My theory is that it wasn't a mentioned too foten before because people were focused on the bad keyboard and thermals + most people don't even notice ghosting.

For the popping: I mean come on, the latest update didn't completely fix the issue but it improved the situation to the point where you won't notice it in 95% of common scenarios. Considering Apple didn't claim this update was supposed to fix the popping I think it's fair to assume more improvements are to come.

Overall I gotta say calling all this a "terrible experience" seems so over the top. I expected you to have crashes and reboots daily, not some charger coil whine and popping when pressing random keys on the desktop.

Oh forgot the whole battery thing. CoconutBattery's results aren't 100% guaranteed, there's some margin for errors. Also you need to wait for a few cycles before you even get accurate-ish figures.
 
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If some people have low expectations for an overpriced piece of hardware from a trillion dollar company that's their problem. I expect "Apple quality", but it seems nowadays it's just a myth.

Dude, take a breath.

A. If you think its overpriced, then why did you buy it?

B. These issues aren't on everyone's device. I did have the popping speaker issue but it was fixed in the recent version of Catalina. Apple has said they are investigating it and are working on a fix with a future software update (not the most recent one). For many it got rid of it but for those it didn't it is supposed to be fixed.

C. I'd gather that you are having an issue with ghosting because you've read a thread on here that states all these devices have ghosting except for some panel revisions. Its nonsense and if the screen bothers you then this isn't the device for you because that's just the way it is. I also think that 99% of the people wouldn't even notice it if not for the thread which has people actively looking for it. Example: In that big thread, one person put "Yeah I have ghosting. I see it when I move the system preferences menu around really fast on the home screen in dark mode. I'm returning it." Really? At one point are you going to be dragging around that window so fast that it would EVER be relevant. Another example: "I can clearly see ghosting in the screen when I record it in slow motion." Ok, who cares. You don't see in slow motion so why do you care?

I'm not saying you don't see ghosting, but there is no panel lottery and the screen is what the screen is.

4. I don't know why your charger is buzzing. Sounds like an issue with it and I'd return it. Mine is silent and doesn't make any noise.
 
If some people have low expectations for an overpriced piece of hardware from a trillion dollar company that's their problem. I expect "Apple quality", but it seems nowadays it's just a myth.

As a professional owner / user of Apple computing products since 1992, I can only offer the following:

You are either going to move past the venting and do what it takes to remedy the unsatisfactory situation or allow Apple's good return policy to work for you.

Because what you are not going to do is convince the otherwise satisfied users of Apple products that we should start complaining too.
 
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My experience so far with the new MBP16 is terrible, a bunch of minor, but very annoying, issues:

  1. 96W charger makes some static/buzzing noise while charging the notebook (idk if it's just mine or it's "by design", anyway it's ridiculous for an expensive notebook)
  2. Ghosting (reports from many users proving it)
  3. Sound popping from the right speaker (reports from many users proving it)
  4. Battery, mine says full charge capacity is 8610mAh, while design capacity is 8790mAh (way below what I'm seeing from other's reports). Source: coconutBattery

1) That could be some kind of electrical issue. It might be reacting to something else nearby, or your ground isn't there or is weak. If you think it's the charger, Apple likely will exchange. I wouldn't instantly jump on Apple about this one because the cause has not been fully identified.

2) That debate is ongoing and by no means settled. I have one of the first 16" off the line and it behaves exactly the same as my other MacBook Pros had, and the same as my 2015 iMac. They all ghost. I only notice it on any of them if I'm looking for it. It's very subjective how you see it.

3) I'm pretty sure that'll get addressed. Be patient.

4) My Coconutbattery says 8790 is the max, but my battery is actually charged to 8923. A new battery should not be undercharging. However, I'd leave it on the charger another hour or two and test again to make sure you're simply not still in the trickle charge stage. You might just be out of bulk charge state and still have a little ways to go. My machine is rarely off the charger, which may explain my slight overcharge.
 
I'm glad to see you weren't injured. I was worried after seeing the thread title.

I didn't pay 3K to play lottery. All computers must leave the factory flawlessly.
How much more are you willing to pay for that? All manufacturers balance the return on investment of quality control and warranty, both of which drive up cost. Apple is generally better than most with both, and consequently more expensive than most, but certainly the balance Apple provides won't please everyone.
 
It's amazing how people in these forums try to defend Apple no matter what.

People here would defend Apple even if they'd sell an actual piece of human waste for $1,000.
Negative experiences are not welcome here, because they deter people from buying overpriced Apple products. Higher prices, declining quality. That's how master penny pincher Timmy makes his dough, and he doesn't even need an apology for that, but people here provide them anyway.
 
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People here would defend Apple even if they'd sell an actual piece of human waste for $1,000.
Negative experiences are not welcome here, because they deter people from buying overpriced Apple products. Higher prices, declining quality. That's how master penny pincher Timmy makes his dough, and he doesn't even need an apology for that, but people here provide them anyway.

Sorry, I don’t take anyone seriously that calls Tim Cook “Timmy.”

No one here cares if you buy an Apple product. No one here is saying Apple is a flawless company. People that have existed in the world for a minute now understand that not everything is always going to be perfect and you can either get the issue fixed or I guess pout and moan which solves nothing.
 
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